


but you remind me that it's such a wonderful thing to love

by somniatoressinespe



Series: flower au madness [2]
Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Flower AU, enjoy, karolina pov because why not hurt each other?, set in between nico walking out of karolinas apartment and karolina walking in the flower shop, this universe owns my ass apparently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somniatoressinespe/pseuds/somniatoressinespe
Summary: Nico was everywhere and she wasn’t there anymore.That felt like the worst kind of oxymorons in Karolina’s brain.or 'karolina realizes she has made a huge mistake'
Relationships: Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru
Series: flower au madness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585909
Comments: 6
Kudos: 124





	but you remind me that it's such a wonderful thing to love

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry

Nico was everywhere.

How did Karolina not realize this before? Was she really so blind that she never did notice it until Nico had to practically scream it in her face?

(Only she had not screamed. She had been quiet and broken and Karolina had done nothing to fix that.)

(How could she have done nothing to fix that?)

And Nico was everywhere.

In Karolina's room, a pair of black pants that could never fit her even if they had been- by some miracle- her style, her perfume lingering in the air like a kiss shared on a roof, a forgotten white eyeliner that made Nico's eyes pop- Karolina had never given much thought to eyes before, until Nico, and while Nico's were what most would define an ordinary or dull brown, to Karolina, they weren't, couldn't be,  _ just  _ brown.

Nico's eyes weren't just brown in the same way her hair wasn't just black. Which sounded stupid even in Karolina's head, but they  _ weren't. _

(Because Nico's eyes were shades of lighter brown near the pupil, flecks of gold flashing when the light hit them just right, and they were dark, pure void as they fluttered shut when Karolina let her hands wander, nails scratching thin red lines.)

And those same eyes in her sketchbook, staring back at Karolina with soft fondness, in a way Karolina's almost sure Nico's eyes will never look back at her in real life because she had made such a mess of things.

In Karolina's studio, small notes written in her small careful hand, about all the things Karolina was doing wrong taking care for her plants- she almost laughs at the thought, how Nico was so concerned of how Karolina took care of her flowers but she had never thought twice to be as concerned for her own well being, how maybe Nico had trusted her with so much and Karolina had done nothing to deserve it.

In Karolina's head, her eyes twinkling with amusement, her lips curled just so in that smile that made Karolina feel like the only person in a crowded room, her voice always on the edge of sarcasm and still so caring, so soft.

(In Karolina's veins, her heart, pumping life into her.)

Nico was everywhere and she wasn’t there anymore.

That felt like the worst kind of oxymorons in Karolina’s brain.

She’s still reeling from that night if she’s being honest.

The way it had all started, with Nico coming to her rescue even when she had done nothing to deserve it- when she had done everything to forfeit it. The way it had all ended- and  _ that  _ Karolina still hadn’t fully processed, not really, not even after Gert had yelled at her for a full fourteen minutes for letting her _ ‘fear of actually interacting on a deeper level with another human being’  _ make Nico run away.

(Nico had said she wouldn’t run.)

(And that’s not a fair thought, Karolina, not when you gave her every right to do so.)

And, okay. 

Karolina wasn’t stupid. 

She knew that she had felt- feels- something more than lust and friendship for Nico, she just thought she was never going to be called out on it because Nico was everything, so  _ how  _ could she want Karolina- reckless, broken,  _ wrong  _ Karolina?

And then there was Xavin. 

Karolina had promised to share her life with them, to take care of them, to love them for the rest of her life. How can she go back on her promise like it meant nothing- like it doesn’t mean everything still in more than one way?

And how was that fair to anyone involved in this tragedy that is Karolina's love life?

And, okay. 

Maybe Karolina  _ was  _ a little stupid because she kept looking at Nico’s shop from far away, she kept passing in front of it every morning and not just because they were kind of neighbours- but it’s not like she actually  _ goes  _ inside so it’s fine, right? 

(Right?)

One day, she had caught a glimpse of Nico as she subtly walked in front of the shop on her way back from the coffee shop around the corner that made terrible coffee and that Karolina absolutely didn’t start going to as soon as she had opened her parlour as an excuse to pass in front of the cute flower shop girl every morning and that Karolina absolutely isn’t still using as an excuse to catch glimpses of Nico, because that would be insane.

Anyway.

Karolina had seen for the first time in weeks that had felt like whole centuries, Nico.

And Nico looked… normal- only that’s not right, because even on Nico’s worst days she looked so out of Karolina’s league it was laughable, really- dressed in black jeans and a black top that left her shoulders out in the open for anyone to see, her face stained with a smudge of black dirt just under her cheekbone and what was probably a cutting but funny reply to Tandy on her lips.

(A flower crown perched over her head, red flowers vivid against Nico’s black air like the spots on a ladybird, and Karolina feels like smiling and laughing and shouting.)

Karolina, thankfully, had had the small presence of mind to duck out of view as soon as Nico had turned around, heart going a mile a minute and not just because of the adrenaline.

And just like that, Karolina's brain goes oh.

(She had made a huge mistake.)

Nico  _ was  _ everywhere, and  _ maybe  _ there was a reason for that invasion, a reason for the way Karolina's heart skips a beat every time Nico smiled, a reason for all the flowers bought- no matter the lame excuses she had given Nico oh so long ago- a reason for the way Karolina couldn't shake her off no matter what she tries.

Oh.

(She owed Gert two gift baskets and a hug.)

Oh God, she’s in love with her.

Her coffee is spilt on the floor and it’s slowly inching closer to Karolina’s boots and she should really move away from the floor people are staring and she’s in love with her.

Shit, she’s in love with her.

That’s not... ideal, right now at this moment.

She’s pretty certain that right now at this moment being in love with Nico is the worst possible thing she could be.

She doesn’t care.

Holy shit, she's  _ in love  _ with her!

A smile splits Karolina’s face in two, and she’s pretty sure there are tears in her eyes and that Molly will kill her for spilling her coffee, but she doesn’t care.

She’s in love __ again. 

How… how  _ miraculous  _ was that? How unexpected?

(How heartbreaking?)

She grips her left hand, and she knows it isn’t possible, but it feels like her purple ring- her purple promise- is burning and itching again like it was scarring again and brand new. 

And it feels like forgiveness.

“Ah, my love,” she whispers to the skies tears streaking down her face, “I miss you.”

The next day, she marches into Nico’s shop with hope blooming in her chest like a flower.

(Nico was everywhere, and Karolina needed her back.)

**Author's Note:**

> you can all go blame (or thank) the ask i got and liane for screaming in my DMs so much i got excited about this au again.
> 
> as always a row of applause for any kudos or comment left, and do hit me up on tumblr @somniatoressinespe.
> 
> cheers!


End file.
